Economics of Natural & Environmental Resources

521 Pages·2013·18.395 MB·English

by  Smith, Vernon L

Routledge Revivals
Economics of Natural & Environmental
Resources
First written in 1977, Economics of Natural and Environmental Resources
presents a collection of articles written in exploration of the economic,
social, and ecological problems peculiar to natural and environmental
resources. Whilst focusing on the economic theory of natural resources,
the contributions also consider geological, technological, and institu-
tional features of particular resources. Policy implications and con-
siderations are central to the text and although the book was published
over thirty years ago, the issues discussed remain relevant to today’s
society.
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Economics of Natural &
Environmental Resources
Edited by
Vernon L. Smith
Firstpublishedin1977
byGordonandBreach
Thiseditionfirstpublishedin2013byRoutledge
2ParkSquare,MiltonPark,Abingdon,Oxon,OX144RN
SimultaneouslypublishedintheUSAandCanada
byRoutledge
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©1977GordonandBreachSciencePublishersInc.
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ISBN13:978-0-415-84220-4(hbk)
ISBN13:978-0-203-76066-6(ebk)
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Chapter 13. Mathematical Models of a Fishery. J. Crutchfield and
A. Zellner. 215
Chapter 14. Exploitation of Common-Property Replenishable Natural
Resources. C. Plourde. 229
Chapter 15. The Primitive Hunter Culture, Pleistocene Extinction, and the
Rise of Agriculture. V. Smith. 241
Part IV. Water Resource Economics
Chapter 16. Optimal Resource Use Over Time with an Application to
Ground Water. O. Burt. 271
Chapter 17. Temporal Allocation of Ground Water. O. Burt. 28'5
Chapter 18. A Socially Optimal Pricing Policy for a Public Water Agency.
G. Brown and C. McGuire. 297
Part V. General Theory of Production from Natural Resources
Chapter 19. Economics of Production from Natural Resources. V. Smith. 309
Chapter 20. Production and Investment in Natural Resource Industries.
O. Burt and R. Cummings. 332
Part VI. The Environment
Chapter 21. Production, Consumption and Externalities. R. Ayres and
A. Kneese. 348
Chapter 22. Littering, Derelicts and the Pricing System. V. Smith. 365
Chapter 23. Dynamics of Waste Accumulation: Disposal Versus Recycling.
V. Smith. 385
Chapter 24. The Optimal Control of Pollution. E. Keeler, M. Spence and
R. Zeckhauser. 409
Chapter 25. A Polluted Golden Age. W. Brock. 441
Chapter 26. The Economics of Environmental Preservation: A Theoretical
and Empirical Analysis. A. Fisher, J. Krutilla and C. Cicchetti.463
Chapter 27. Environmental Preservation, Uncertainty, and Irreversibility.
K. Arrow and A. Fisher. 479
Chapter 28. Economics of Wilderness Resources. V. Smith. 4R9
11i
PREFACE
This book has its origin in the growing interest in the
economic, social, and ecological problems peculiar to natural
and environmental resources. Production and consumption from
such sources is characterized by (1) the possibility of exhaustion
for fixed stock resources and of irreversible changes, including
exhaustion, for replenishable and environmental resources,
(2) externalities that arise primarily because of the common
property features of some natural resources, (3) fundamental
biophysical constraints expressing the laws of species growth, and
(4) macrophysical constraints expressing the laws of conservation
of energy and mass that directly link the quality of the environment
with all forms of waste and energy discharge from production and
consumption activities. The papers in this collection touch in some
way upon these distinguishing characteristics.
The major guiding principle in selecting the papers has been
to create a volume in the economic theory of natural resources. An
attempt has also been made to include papers dealing with the
geological, technological, and institutional features of particular
resources. Such background material provides an essential input
to the theoretical work in this book and to future extensions in theory.
Policy implications and considerations are an important element in
all of the papers, and for that matter is a motivating element in most
of the papers. Research scholars interested in natural resources
usually have an interest in public policies concerning such resources.
vii